There She Goes Again

Album: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
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Songfacts®:

  • "There She Goes Again" is the 8th track from the Velvet Underground's debut album, reaching up the Billboard Hot 100 charts at... oh, wait, the Velvet Underground never charted. However as Velvet Underground songs go, this one is perhaps the most mainstream-sounding.
    The lyrics more than make up for the ear-friendly notes, however, when you realize that this song is about a woman falling into prostitution. And in fact it does so with gritty references to being on her knees and walking the streets - maybe not so shocking today, but monocle-popping in 1967.
  • On December 11, 1965, the Velvets appeared at the Summit High School Auditorium for one of their first paid gigs, alongside two other bands since long forgotten. Their set began with this song, then went to "Venus In Furs," and finished with "Heroin." At a high school. Sterling Morrison later recounted in a 1983 interview that a "murmur of surprise" changed to "a roar of disbelief" and then to "a mighty howl of outrage and bewilderment" over the course of their three-song set.
  • Musically, this song does borrow from Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike" - give it a listen. It's even more obvious of an influence if you listen to the Rolling Stones cover on the Out of Our Heads album - there's the guitar riff and the pronounced stops.
  • That album cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico - have you ever thought about how, if you peel off the sticker, the revealed banana is pink? Isn't that an... interesting color choice for a... peeled banana? It's almost like Andy Warhol was trying to convey some subtle Freudian signal to us. Pink banana.

Comments: 1

  • Adam from West Palm Beach, FlSunday Morning is the most mainstream sounding song on the album, imho...
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